Parkinson's UK reports 30 per cent rise in voluntary income

Paul Jackson-Clark, director of fundraising at the charity, said it had emphasised interacting with its existing donors through face-to-face meetings and thank-you letters

Paul Jackson-Clark

Parkinson's UK's voluntary income increased by 30 per cent last year, its annual report shows.

The report, for the year ending 31 December 2012, shows that voluntary income from donations and membership increased from £9.4m in 2011 to £12.1m in 2012.

The annual report said the increase was "slightly offset" by a fall in legacy funding, from £9.5m in 2011, to £8.8m in 2012.

Overall, the charity, which provides information and support for people with Parkinson’s disease, saw its total income increase from £21.9m in 2011 to £23.9m in 2012.

Paul Jackson-Clark, director of fundraising at Parkinson’s UK, said the reason for the rise in voluntary income was "going back to good, old-fashioned fundraising".

He said the charity had put an emphasis on interacting with its existing donors by holding face-to-face meetings, contacting them by telephone and sending out "really good" thank-you letters.

"We put a lot of time and energy into really thinking about how we welcome, support and involve our supporters," he said.

The increase in donations and membership income was also helped by a data modelling project that identified lapsed donors who had not been contacted for a long time, said Jackson-Clark.

He said the charity had invested in regional fundraisers, who helped people to hold local fundraising events, such as coffee mornings. This had resulted in a rise in income of 30 per cent from regional fundraisers to £120,000 last year, he said.

"I sometimes hear people in the sector talking about regional fundraising as if it’s a by-gone era, but it’s absolutely not," he said.

Although membership fees contributed to the charity’s voluntary income, Jackson-Clark said it had not had a significant effect.

"We’ve seen a steady increase in membership over the past four to five years, but no exceptional increase. We have 37,000 members who pay a £4 annual subscription, although a lot of members add an additional donation to their subscription," said Jackson-Clark.

Overall, Parkinson’s UK invested £4.9m in generating funds, according to the charity’s annual accounts, up from £4.4m in 2011.